Such an arrangement, Antonio claims, will make it easier for Shylock to exact a harsh penalty if the loan is not repaid. Assuring Antonio that he means to be friends, Shylock offers to make the loan without interest.
Instead, he suggests, seemingly in jest, that Antonio forfeit a pound of his own flesh should the loan not be repaid in due time. Bassanio warns Antonio against entering such an agreement, but Antonio assures him that he will have no trouble repaying the debt, as his ships will soon bring him wealth that far exceeds the value of the loan. Bassanio remains suspicious of the arrangement, but Antonio reminds him that his ships will arrive within the next two months.
Shylock is an arresting presence on the stage, and although Antonio may be the character for whom the play is named, it is Shylock who has come to dominate the imaginations of critics and audiences alike. However, in many ways, the play belongs to Shylock. Shylock, however, differs in that his malice seems to stem, at least in part, from the unkindness of his Christian colleagues. Shylock is the strongest character in terms of character development in the play.
He is a Jew, and he does not like Christians, as he clearly declares in his lines. England expelled its small Jewish population in , and up to the time of Queen Elizabeth I, no openly practicing Jews were known of in London.
By Marc C. Conner, Ph. But how did Shakespeare know about Jews when he knew none in person? The Background of the Play Shakespeare might have started writing the play at the same time as a former Jew was executed for treason. Q: What was the state of Judaism in Elizabethan London?
In a sense, it is Shakespeare's own brilliance which led him to create Shylock as almost too human. Shylock is powerfully drawn, perhaps too powerfully for this comedy, but his superb dignity is admirable, despite the fact that we must finally condemn him. Perhaps the poet W. Auden has given us our best clue as to how we must deal with Shylock: "Those to whom evil is done," he says, "do evil in return.
Previous Portia. Next Major Themes. Removing book from your Reading List will also remove any bookmarked pages associated with this title. Are you sure you want to remove bookConfirmation and any corresponding bookmarks? My Preferences My Reading List. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example?
Why, revenge! The villany you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.
Here Shylock insists on the fact that Jews and Christians share a common humanity. He also exposes the hypocrisy of the Christian characters who are always talking about love and mercy but then go out of their way to alienate Shylock because he is Jewish and different.
Yet as powerful as this speech is, elsewhere in the play Shylock tends to emphasize the differences between Jews and Christians. When Bassanio invites him to dinner, Shylock mutters "I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following, but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you" 1.
Is Shylock just being hateful, or is his disdain justifiable? We know Shylock has been abused in the past he's been trash-talked, spit upon, called a dog, and worse , and it seems like there's not a scene that goes by in which some character isn't hurling anti-Semitic insults. Even though we can see that Shylock is a victim of bigotry, he often makes it hard for us to pity him entirely.
Shylock is often rude and base in his interactions. He's abrupt with his daughter and mean to his servant, and his house is described as a "hell" on more than one occasion. Plus, he wants Antonio dead and doggedly pursues his "bond" a pound of Antonio's flesh when the Christian merchant is unable to pay back his loan. Read more about this in "Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory. Even if critics can't agree on how to interpret Shylock, one thing is certain: the man is an outsider who is alienated from just about everyone—even his own daughter, who can't wait to run away.
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